I've spent the recent weeks looking for the "perfect" CRM tool. I found one with a great bell, another with an amazing whistle, and the one I especially liked had the shiniest widget I've ever seen. All kidding aside, there were several that had great options that could make our dealer group perform at a higher level. But as the search unfolded, so did the daily tasks of salespeople not sourcing leads correctly, managers not confirming appointments, assignments mis-assigned, and NOBODY completing tasks. And I thought to myself, "what does it matter what the name says on the box of the new CRM tool?"

In the two years that I have been CRM "champion", I've trained dozens of new salespeople and managers. I've simplified dashboards, automated as much as I could without making us seem like robots, and hired additional people to handle the campaigns enjoyed by a robust CRM tool. And we sell 400+ cars a month DESPITE of ourselves.

Don't be fooled by a great sales pitch of a CRM "silver bullet." It doesn't matter what the name says on ANY of your programs if you cannot get the support of the team you have engaging in these products. The REAL silver bullet is continuous daily training of how and why CRM works. Salespeople & managers need to understand the back end of CRM and the triggers involved to making the complete cycle of prospect -to-owner-to-repeat customer. That's the ZMOCRMT. A new acronym I invented to the "aha moment" when they understand the zero moment of crm truth.

Replies to This ADM Discussion

I just went through the same thing as you did, except I've now done it twice in the past 3 months. If you want some info on who we selected and why we changed 2 CRM companies in 3 months, you can reach me at 843-437-8273, Tommy Russell with Hudson Nissan. We embrace every tool to it's max potential and can depending on who you're leaning towards, can help steer you in the right direction.

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